How the new Marvel series will focus on the everyman in a superhero world.

By Eric Goldman

It’s a great time for fans of both Joss Whedon and fans of Marvel and the many of us who include ourselves in both groups, now that Whedon is launching a new TV series, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., this fall.

At ABC’s Upfront last week, I spoke to Whedon about S.H.I.E.L.D. to get a few comments about the return of Agent Phil Coulson, the character J. August Richards plays in the pilot and what the show will be week to week.

IGN TV: Coulson’s back, but I’m assuming it won’t be that simple.

Joss Whedon: Not simple, you’re right.

IGN: So will we find out in the first episode, “this is why he’s back”, or will it be more us figuring it out as we go along?

Whedon: All I’ll say is, it ain’t a fanwank. It’s not one of those things we gloss over.

Whedon: You know, he’s just a guy. I mean, the whole point of this show is, they’re just guys. They’re not The Avengers, they’re not the fancy ones. They’re the people that got sort of hit in the blowback of this super-world. So he’s kind of an everyman. He appears to be a very fierce everyman!

IGN: It looks like it’s going to be sort of a small splinter group of S.H.I.E.L.D. that Coulson is leading. Will they be traveling a lot week to week?

Whedon: Yeah, we really want to hit the idea that S.H.I.E.L.D. is a global organization, both in terms of what the show means and also just in terms of the visual palette of it. We want to be exciting and different every week. So yeah, they’ll be on the road a good deal.

IGN: Fans can’t resist asking, “What superheroes will show up from the comics?” I’ve seen you say you want to be careful though, to somewhat divvy that out and not load up the show with that sort of thing, right?

Whedon: It’s not what the show is about. The show is about the six people who are in the show. And very week we’ll meet somebody that they have to deal with. Some of those people will be very sympathetic, some of them will be evil, some will be from the Marvel canon, some will reference it -- but it’s not an Easter egg hunt. It really is just about the lives of these people as they’re dealing with this super-world.